Start-ups challenged to help develop carbon capture technology to push global industry towards net-zero emissions

2024-02-21 00:09:43

A pioneering international program, bringing together technology start-ups and leading manufacturers in the quest for net zero emissions, has been launched.

The Innovandi Open Challenge 2024 program is delivered by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), the leading international industry body dedicated to helping the global cement industry reduce its emissions and ultimately achieve emissions-free concrete net zero.

Applications are being encouraged from start-ups around the world interested in working on the use and storage of carbon capture for low-carbon cement and concrete. Innovative technologies are sought, which include the capture and use of CO ₂ and help prevent carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere.

This will be the 3 ^o Innovandi Open Challenge, which builds on the success of previous years. The first challenge, in 2022, focused on the development of carbon capture technology, with two start-ups already moving to the pilot phase. The 15 start-ups selected in 2^o Last year’s Innovandi Challenge, to work on developing low-carbon concrete, are currently in discussion with manufacturers about forming partnerships.

Claude Loréa, the director of Cement, Innovation and ESG at GCCA, said: “Our industry is committed to achieving net-zero emissions and the development of carbon capture technology is an essential part of that work. Our world-leading Innovandi Open Challenge program has already seen remarkable progress being made in just two years, with start-ups and our member companies working together. We look forward to seeing what this year’s candidates can bring to continue the extensive work already underway around the world.”

All GCCA members, which account for 80% of China’s global cement production capacity, and numerous industry-leading Chinese manufacturers, have committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 through road map GCCA’s Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero – the first global industry to define such a detailed plan. GCCA also recently signed a game-changing agreement to work together with the China Cement Association (CCA) on the decarbonization process.

The development of new technologies is an essential part of the industry’s roadmap to net-zero emissions, and carbon capture and storage technology is expected to account for around 36% of total emissions reductions by 2050.

The industry’s first industrial-scale cement production plant equipped with CO capture technology ₂ is scheduled to be mechanically completed at the Heidelberg Materials site in Brevik, Norway, by the end of 2024, with numerous other factories expected to open by 2030.

Thomas Guillot, Executive Director of GCCA, said: “We already know how CCUS technology works, with pilots and projects underway around the world, but it is essential to see what other innovations exist, beyond our industry, that could help accelerate our mission towards net-zero emissions.

“We encourage applications from start-ups around the world to join us in the urgent fight against limiting global warming. If you are a start-up from Austria to Australia, Brazil to Bangladesh, with an innovative idea or technology to further develop CCUS, sign up to participate.”

Jonathan Cool, CEO da Ultra High Materials, a start-up that participated in last year’s Open Challenge, encouraged others to sign up: “The support, guidance, exposure to GCCA members and facilitation of collaboration opportunities with GCCA members has been effective, efficient and have had a beneficial impact on all of us. If we had the opportunity to do it all over again, we certainly would.”

Start-ups interested in signing up for the third Innovandi Open Challenge can click here for more information. The deadline for registration is 15^{of April.}

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Contact:

For more details or interview requests, please contact:

Simon Thomson, Media Director, GCCA [email protected] / +44 7380 972282

Source: BUSINESS WIRE